I attended the Proctor High School graduation exercises on June 21 in the Utica Memorial Auditorium in which my niece was a participant. I was awestruck with the dignity of the ceremony, indicative of the exceptional planning behind the scenes, and the respect of the 500-plus graduates to one another and to the speakers. For a crowd that size, it was an extraordinary feat to accomplish!

In perhaps the most touching part of the ceremony, the students gave a well-deserved, standing ovation to each of the World War II veterans who left high school to serve our country and who received their diplomas during the exercises. As Dr. Eugene Nassar, a Proctor grad of 60 years ago, addressed the students and spoke of his own education as a child of Lebanese immigrants, I was moved again at the hope he inspired in the attentive graduates, many of whom are proud immigrants themselves or children of immigrants.

Observing the graduation at Proctor renewed my pride in being a native of Utica where ethnic and cultural diversity continues to enrich student life and academic programs. Well done, Proctor staff and students, and congratulations to all!

SISTER MARY ROSE NOONAN, CSJ

Latham

We must act or we’ll lose the America we love

The America we love is slipping away. If we have any hope of beating back a Marxist transformation, for the sake of passing on liberty and freedom to future generations, it’s time to stand up and fight!

We have a president who treads daily on our Constitution and Bill of Rights, yet claims no knowledge of his scandalous administration! We have an Attorney General, currently held in contempt of Congress, who will “invent” a felony charge against any journalist that dares report the truth, and Obama trumpets “total confidence” in this man who has made a mockery of the entire justice system!

The corrupt IRS has perpetrated the most atrocious scandal in recent times, targeting and intimidating the opposition and successfully manipulating a national election! Even Democrats are calling Obamacare a “train wreck” $2 trillion over budget, and we now have Health and Human Services Secretary Sebelius “soliciting donations” from private companies that she regulates, to fund this insanity!

Folks, you just can't make this stuff up! Is Obama the consummate prevaricator, deceptively corrupt and incapable of demonstrating any real leadership? You decide! Buyers’ remorse, anyone?

TOM WILLIAMS

Clinton

Who gains from state tests? The testing companies

Children in New York public schools found standardized test items were more difficult and more complex with confusing answer choices.

Students struggled to understand a complicated common core. Countless parents had trouble understanding their child’s elementary school homework. They obviously are not college and career ready; I guess we better tell their employers.

Page 2 of 2 - Did I mention the state education commissioner did not subject his own children to this nonsense? They attend a charter school, so they are exempt from the excessive standardized testing he has imposed on public school children. The testing company will not only profit from selling the test, but also by selling the remediation for huge numbers of children that score poorly on their perplexing tests. They profit more from failure and fear transparency. Their connections to Andrew Cuomo are truly paying dividends.

Teachers nor parents can also never review, discuss, or share the contents of these tests. The tests are returned and never ever released. This ridiculous restriction absolutely contradicts the propaganda that these tests are to help teachers improve their teaching, and thus, help students. Maybe teachers should teach about motives, hypocrites, and propaganda. They certainly have some fine examples to use in their lessons.